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| US sees 95,000 jobs go last month The US economy shed another 95,000 jobs in September, the fourth month in a row that jobs have been lost, official figures show. bbc.co.uk |
Mitsubishi Live Drive - Video The All-New 2011 Mitsubishi Motors Outlander Sport is Set to Become the 'World's First Online Test Drive' feedproxy.google.com |
Chilean leader's mine rock gift for Queen Chile's President Sebastian Pinera has arrived in the UK ahead of a European tour, as his country basks in the rescue of 33 trapped miners. bbc.co.uk |
Cuba to free five more dissidents Cuba has authorised the release of five dissidents, in addition to 52 set for freedom under a deal reached in May, the Roman Catholic Church says. bbc.co.uk |
Race on to save Indonesian disaster victims Up to 300 dead and at least 500 missing after volcanic eruption on Java and tsunami hits seas west of SumatraRescue workers are scrambling to find up to 500 of people believed to be missing after Indonesia was hit by a volcanic eruption and a tsunami which killed more than 300 people.Fishermen and relief crews searched the sea west of Sumatra for survivors of the deadly tidal surge set off by Monday's 7.5 magnitude earthquake west of South Pagai, in the Mentawai islands.The remote islands, popular with surfers, were hit by 10ft waves that killed at least 272 people. Fears are growing for hundreds more still missing.Today corpses littered the roads and beaches, according to district head Edison Salelo Baja. Hundreds of body bags have been dispatched, the health ministry said.The relief agency World Vision said 500 people are missing.Rough seas and bad weather have hampered relief operations. The first cargo plane loaded with 16 tons of tents, medicine, food and clothes arrived today. Four helicopters also landed in Sikakap, a town on North Pagai island which is being used as the centre of relief operations.Harmensyah, who heads the West Sumatra provincial disaster management centre, said: "Finally we have a break in the weather. We have a chance now to look for the missing from the sky and also to survey the extent of the damage."Eight Australian survivors, an American and a New Zealander arrived in the Sumatran city of Padang today.They said they were on the back deck of their anchored boat, the MV Midas, when a wall of water smashed them into a neighbouring vessel, triggering a fire that quickly ripped through their cabin."They hit us directly in the side of the boat, piercing a fuel tank," said Daniel North, the American crew member. "Almost immediately, the captain gave the order to abandon ship and everyone got off the boat."Meanwhile, 800 miles away along the same geological fault line, one of the country's most active volcanoes spewed out clouds of ash and jets of searing gas as officials tried to evacuate more than 11,000 people from the area.At least 28 people have been killed and dozens more injured in the eruption of Mount Merapi or Fire Mountain, on Java, which started on Monday. Today rescue workers continued to search the scorched slopes of the mountain for survivors.There are concerns that more eruptions could follow. "A lot of energy is pent up back there. There's no telling what's next," said Surono, the head of Indonesia's Centre of Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation.Among the dead was Maridjan, an 83-year-old man, who for years had led ceremonies intended to calm the volcano's spirits. His body was found in a praying position, a rescue worker said.President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono cut short a state visit to Vietnam to deal with the two disasters."I want to make sure the emergency response has been running well," he told reporters in Hanoi. "I want to see for myself the condition of the victims."The eruption and the earthquake are not linked, but they both occurred along Indonesia's portion of the so-called Pacific ring of fire, a series of fault lines that are prone to earthquakes and volcanic activity. It was these fault lines that caused the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami which killed 230,000 people.IndonesiaNatural disasters and extreme weatherMatthew Weaverguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |